The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for scrubbing discharges from industrial furnaces and the like, especially glass treating equipment.
As is well known, scrubbing means of many descriptions have been employed for cleansing gaseous materials of particulate matter prior to being emitted to the atmosphere. It is generally found that scrubbing alone is not fully satisfactory in lowering the amount of particles released to the atmosphere and, hence, to merely set up a scrubbing system often may not be effective, absent the knowledge of the particular problems to be solved and a discovery of an effective operation in view of the problems to be overcome.
Often in scrubbing systems hot gaseous material is brought into sufficiently intimate contact with a fluid, so that the undesirable components of the gases are absorbed or precipitated out of the exhaust flow. Usually, the removal of these materials requires the mechanism of impingement, condensation and diffusion. Generally, the components or dispersoids to be removed are organic as well as inorganic substances and many of these materials may be readily removed by using the scrubbing fluids or a series of filters or a combination of scrubbing towers and filters. Generally, when scrubbing fluids are employed, there is a need for large volumes as well as means for agitating the fluid in order to precipitate the solid particles from the gaseous flow.
As regards the glass industry and, in particular, the treatment of vitreous articles, a number of means have been employed to protect against degrading such articles in strength and other essential properties. In the treatment of such articles and prior to annealing, they are exposed to vaporous materials with an inert carrier gas whereby an even and protective film is placed upon the vitreous surfaces. These films or coatings are generally oxides and are intimately associated with the glass surface.
It will be appreciated that there is a substantial amount of vapor material which is either recycled or vented to the atmosphere which would present air pollution problems in the vicinity of such equipment. Also, since many of these compounds are halogen-containing materials, they are often corrosive or combine with other materials to render acidic conditions which are detrimental to operating machinery. Also, the venting means such as fans and other air-moving equipment when exposed to these corrosive materials often are internally corroded so that they are rendered useless after a short period of time.
The instant method and apparatus employing the invention herein is an improvement to the general category of known methods and apparatus with novel features being provided.